He swallowed a burr he pulled off his paws, Baxter.. 3 and a

Customer Question

He swallowed a burr he pulled off his pawsJA: I'm sorry to hear that. The Veterinarian will know if the dog will be able to digest that. What is the dog's name and age?Customer: Baxter.. 3 and a half. He's kind of gagging and hiccuping every now and again. I can tell he is uncomfortableJA: Is there anything else important you think the Veterinarian should know about Baxter?Customer: No

Burrs tend to go through the system on dogs this large without too much upset so long as food goes along with it. It helps to give a high fiber diet to help with this. You can either feed the diet I include below or you can add canned pumpkin or boiled rice to his regular food. Try to feed at least 2 meals a day.

Alternately, you’ll combine white or brown rice, boneless, skinless chicken breast and sufficient water for cooking in a stock pot. Boil on medium until it turns to mush and the breast is easily flaked. If your companion requires a more palatable food, try adding in pureed baby food in chicken, turkey and similar flavors. Avoid those that contain onion or garlic in the ingredient panel. Work up to feeding exclusively until at least 3 days following the resolution of the GI upset. After this, work on slowly switching back to the regular food that your companion typically eats.

In rare circumstances, we may also see nausea and vomiting from a burr ingestion especially if it's irritating the stomach because there is little or no food helping to minimize the risk of upset. If this happens, you can administer a dose of regular pepcid (famotidine) every 12-24 hours. You will want to give 0.5mg/pound of body weight (a 10# ***** would receive 5mg, a 5# ***** would receive 2.5mg, etc). For this, you can visit any human pharmacy and buy the OTC brand name Pepcid, or you can use the cheaper, off-brand “famotidine” that’s available. Either will be useful.

If you need to give famotidine, please wait at least 2 hours following dosing to ensure no vomiting and then begin offering food and water.

I’ll be standing by if you have other questions. Let me know if I can help further.

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